With the development of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles including trucks, there will have to be a method to insure that cargo loads are maintained in a secure situation as conditions such as vibration, road roughness, or abrupt starts and stops result in loosening of cargo securement components such as chain, straps, cables and the like. These conditions can also apply to trucks and trains that have operators on board, or vessels at sea.
Closed loop control systems can govern a system so that it operates within specified and acceptable boundaries defining a predetermined state without requiring continuous oversight or adjustment by a system operator or other person. Closed loop control systems monitor one or more operating parameters, compare this or these against one or more desired set point values, compute a difference value, and then enact one or more changes in a system state or in one or more other parameters in response to the difference between the operating parameters and the set point values. One example in vehicles is a cruise control system, which compares a desired set point speed against a measured speed of a vehicle, and for a great enough disparity will alter the power developed by the vehicle engine so as to close a gap between the desired vehicle speed and its actual speed.
Truck drivers hauling loads secured by straps, chains, wire rope and the like use tensioning devices such as winches, load binders, and come-along winches to develop tension forces much greater than human musculature in order to restrain large, ponderous, or bulky objects. But because the cargo restraints often slacken over time and especially due to shock and vibration in transit, the driver must typically make periodic stops to check and re-adjust the tensioning devices on the cargo restraints.
Unwanted movement of loose cargo can unbalance a vehicle, or crush or damage other valuable goods in a shipping compartment. Unwanted or unexpected movement of loose cargo can adversely affect maneuverability and render a vehicle or a vessel uncontrollable, resulting in accidents or other losses, and hazards or casualties if cargo falls off a vehicle, especially in an accident.